The consumer landscape has been in a state of perpetual flux for several years now, driven by an ever-younger population of individuals becoming the most important purchasers in the United States. Additionally, new technologies have quickly transformed the requirements associated with retail management and the best practices of customer prospect targeting, conversion and retention in a relatively short period of time. 

The most successful retailers of the future will be those that handle the ebb and flow of consumer preference evolution in stride, focusing on agile strategies that adapt whenever necessary. This is no easy pursuit, but a little guidance, a lot of internal research and plenty of healthy technological provisioning can help companies reach and retain a higher volume of prospects in the coming years, leading to increased financial performances. 

Perfection in practice
The Drum recently reached out to several marketing directors, professionals and experts regarding their sentiments on agile advertising strategies, affirming that adaptation is among the most critical actions in this regard. Once a business begins to lose its relevance in the current market, significant issues will inevitably manifest into reality, such as a lack of prospect conversions and hindered retention of otherwise loyal customers. 

According to the news provider, one of the main drivers of an agile retail marketing strategy is adequate and consistent research, working to identify trends as they proliferate – or even before – rather than only obliging the evolutions in a reactive fashion. When it comes to virtually any type of business strategy, proactive companies will almost always outperform reactive ones, regardless of which industry one might be discussing. 

Analysis of available data will often indicate what needs to be done to improve the marketing strategy in stride. 

"We know that we need to engage across multiple channels," Web-based retailer Big Lots Director of Marketing Strategy Brandi Ply told The Drum. "This holiday season we have increased our focus on social and digital media, including creating an online only holiday gift guide, multiple social sweepstakes across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, creating video content specifically for YouTube, and pushing content on Pinterest for the first time."

The source went on to note that beyond agility, marketing programs must be optimally integrated to ensure a consistent brand image across channels and among customers to be truly successful. 

Takeaways for digital retailers
Online businesses have unique opportunities to create more cohesion throughout the market research, lead generation, advertising, sales and client relationship management cycle, especially as so many consumers are looking to the World Wide Web to connect with companies. For this reason, the focus in 2015 should be establishing a seamless strategy that links each investment into one organic system of brand management. 

When online retailers can strike the right chord in marketing, sales and client relationship management, the sky will be the limit for revenue and visibility growth, while customers will inherently enjoy a more preferable experience over time.